Camera-based touch systems that use cameras to acquire images of a touch surface and process the image data to determine the position of a pointer relative to the touch surface are known. For example, International PCT Application No. WO 02/03316 to Smart Technologies Inc. et al discloses a camera-based touch system including a passive touch surface and a plurality of cameras associated with the touch surface. The cameras have overlapping fields of view encompassing the touch surface. The cameras acquire images of the touch surface from different locations and generate image data. A processor receives and processes the image data generated by the cameras to determine the location of a pointer captured in the images relative to the touch surface using triangulation.
In order to triangulate the position of the pointer accurately, especially in situations where the pointer is moving quickly across the touch surface, it is necessary to synchronize the cameras. This is due to the fact that if the cameras are not synchronized, each camera will capture an image of the pointer at a different time and therefore, will see the pointer at a different position on the touch surface. This of course makes the results of triangulation unpredictable and inaccurate.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel system and method for synchronizing camera images in a camera-based touch system to enhance position determination of fast moving objects.